Monday, July 28, 2014

[NOTE: This post is longer than normal, since I am commenting on multiple phrases and words
throughout the verse in question. Please pardon the length; I couldn't
shorten it any more than I did - except to delete this disclaimer.]

Perhaps the most reviled verse among non-Mormon Christians in the
entire Mormon scriptural canon is Joseph Smith History 1:19 – the words
of Jesus to Joseph Smith at the beginning of the First Vision regarding
why he should not join any church. This single verse encapsulates the
reason why many call Mormonism arrogant and offensive and blind – and
the misinterpretations of this verse by Mormons themselves only add fuel
to this fire. So, in this post I am breaking out my parser’s pen and dissecting
what Jesus actually said and did not say: word-by-word,
sentence-by-sentence, concept-by-concept. It was a fascinating endeavor
when I first undertook it, and it changed my perspective on The
Restoration greatly.

I was answered that I must join none of them, for they
were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their
creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all
corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men,
having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.

Now, let’s break this down concept-by-concept and focus on the key
words in each concept, focusing on what the words themselves actually
mean AT THEIR MOST BASIC LEVEL – rather than secondary
definitions and other interpretations that have been postulated (both
within and without the LDS Church):

“I was answered that I (Joseph) must join none of them,”

Joseph prayed explicitly about the Protestant sects of his area and which one HE should join.
Perhaps this appears to be a minor point, but I believe it is important
to put the prayer in context. Joseph was working from the core
assumption that he should join a Protestant sect, and, looking back, it
is clear from a faithful Mormon perspective that Joseph had a specific
mission to perform in mortality within Christianity. Other religions
weren’t a part of the equation, at all – and neither was Catholicism,
according to his own writings. I wonder what response a Buddhist or
Hindu or Muslim would get with that exact same prayer – or if others
might have specific missions to perform in mortality and receive
different answers that will help them fulfill those missions, perhaps
like Mother Teresa performing a wonderful work among the poor of
Calcutta that would have been impossible as a Mormon. I don’t know, but
parsing the text leads to interesting questions like these.

“for they were all wrong;”

At its most basic level, “wrong” simply means “not right” / “not correct” – or “out of order; awry; amiss”.
Also, like with school tests, it often applies to answers that contain
one or more elements that are not correct – even when most elements are
correct. Thus “wrong” can mean 100% wrong or 1% wrong – or everything
between those extremes. What “wrong” DOES NOT mean is “bad, evil, terrible, worthy of scorn, useless, etc.”

“and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds”

A “creed” is “an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of Christian belief.” The most common creeds referenced by those discussing this verse are the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed,
but these creeds essentially were the Catholic Creeds of the early
centuries. The Athanasian Creed had a strong impact on much of the
Protestant theology that existed in Joseph Smith’s time, but there were
other “Protestant creeds” (like the Westminster Confession of Faith)
that rarely are considered in the context of this verse – and those
Protestant creeds are every bit as relevant as the early Catholic
Creeds. (I believe, more so) [The closest thing in Mormonism to
"creeds" are The Articles of Faith.] What “creeds” DOES NOT mean is “general teachings, statements, beliefs, general principles, etc.” This means that much of what actually is taught in other sects is not addressed in this verse, only “their creeds”.

“were an abomination in his sight”

Abomination means “anything greatly disliked, abhorred or loathed”.
It is this word that is most “abominable, abhorred or loathed” by other
Christians. However, when focused on the “creeds” [particularly in
statements like the Westminster Confession], it is much easier to
understand. Just a few examples are: hardcore Calvinist pre-destination
that eliminates agency in all practical ways, the complete elimination
of the Father as a separate being from Jesus, the incorporeal nature of
God that led to a real and harmful loathing of the body and all things
physical, the loss of all concept of eternal progression and exaltation,
etc. There are more examples of creeds that truly would be abominable
when viewed by Jesus ["in his sight"]. What this DOES NOT
say is that everything taught by the other sects was an abomination. It
leaves the door wide open for truth and beauty and goodness to be
taught.

[Just as an aside, I find it fascinating to watch mainstream
Protestantism move inexorably away from many of these creeds that were
so strongly taught in Joseph's day toward what is taught in Mormonism - and the natural tendency of some Mormons to want creedal certainty.]

“that THOSEprofessors”

“Professors” means “those who profess” – nothing more and nothing less.
“Profess” means “claim, allege, purport, avow” – and there is a strong
association with making claims as part of a “profession” from a
position of authority. The critical distinction in this verse, however,
is that “professors” is tied directly to the “creeds” – NOT even implicitly to other teachings that are not creedal. What this means is that “those professors” DOES NOT mean ALL
“ministers, preachers, pastors, priests, members, believers, etc.”
Rather, it means anyone who “professes those creeds” – who teaches the
creeds from a position of authority – who teaches things that are
abominations in Jesus’ sight – who teaches them as “creeds” [as
unalterable, immutable, unquestionable]. It places as much weight on the
intractability of the profession as it does on what is being professed –
meaning it focuses on those who are closed to continuing revelation and
stuck on abominable creeds of the past.

[In a very real way, but not exactly analogous due to not being
"creeds", it is like those who continue to espouse views from past
Mormon leaders that have been abandoned or refuted by current leaders -
like the justifications for the Priesthood ban that were repudiated by
Elder McConkie shortly after the 1978 revelation lifting the ban or the
continued practice of polygamy in the 21st Century.]

“were all corrupt;”

At its most basic level, corrupt simply means “tainted; not pure”.
If someone professes abominable creeds, those creeds inevitably will
taint those who profess them. To me, this is perhaps the most logical
assertion of all the statements in this verse. What this DOES NOT say is that these people are “evil, bad, insincere, conniving, manipulative, worthy of scorn, etc.” It actually says nothing about their motivation or desires; it only addresses the inherent stain of abominable creeds.

“that:”

The following statements are the only ones that are
attributed as a quote directly to Jesus – rather than Joseph’s summary
in the first part of the verse.

“they draw near to me with their lips,”

“They” refers back to the “professors of the creeds”, who speak of
Jesus. There is no other implication and no insult, condemnation or
criticism inherent in this phrase.

“but their hearts are far from me,”

This is a
painful statement for many, but “heart” in this case does not mean the
actual physical organ – and it does not have to mean “intent or desire”.
The “heart” in this context is defined as the “vital or essential
part” of something – what lies at the very core. In other words, the
“essential part” of the “professors of the creeds” is far from Jesus.
For example, the essential parts of the creeds melds Jesus into the
Father, prays to Jesus (instead of to the Father in the name of the
Son), refuses to accept His oft-repeated request to show their love
through their acceptance of His commandments (“by their fruits”) and
rejects individual agency and will by preaching predestination, etc. In
summary, they use and preach his name but don’t promulgate his
teachings. What this DOES NOT say is that ALL Christians fit this description. It is pointed ONLY
at those who profess the creeds, and it is pointed only at their
“hearts” [what they believe deep down as bedrock doctrine], not their
lips [much of what they say and teach].

“they teach for doctrines the commandments of men,”

This phrase equates those who profess the creeds with those who substitute human commands for doctrine. It DOES NOT apply to regular members of other sects, at all – OR to ministers, preachers, pastors or priests who teach doctrine from the scriptures themselves and don’t preach the creeds.

“having a form of godliness,”

“Form” means “structure, appearance, shape, etc.” Thus, those who
profess the creeds teach something that is shaped like and appears to be
godly.

“but they deny the powerthereof.”

This is the clinching argument against the creeds – that they reject
the power of godliness. That phrase alone deserves its own post, but
suffice it to say here that the creed professors are not accused of
denying Jesus; rather, they are accused of denying His power – what He,
through his Atonement, is capable of doing. They are accused of claiming
that He can’t do what He has said He will do, which is the most basic
abomination of all.

In summary, JSH 1:19 is a direct attack on the creeds of Joseph’s day (more so the newer Protestant ones than the older Catholic ones),
defining the primary reason why he was told not to join any of them as
being their profession of those creeds. The only people who are
mentioned directly in any way are those who profess those creeds, and
even these people are only described in terms of their acceptance of
those creeds by which they are tainted. It says absolutely nothing
about anyone or anything else, and it says nothing about the salvation
of even the professors whose creeds it condemns.

At the most basic level, this verse has one message and only one message:

“The Protestant CREEDS are an abomination, and they taint all those who profess them.”

That certainly is harsh to those who profess the creeds, but it also says much, much,less than too many Mormons (and others) assume.

6 comments:

I appreciate you breaking down this verse the way you did. It definitely makes more sense and is more in line with the idea that we welcome truth from any source, including from other religions, rather than the idea that all other religions themselves were "wrong."

Why does this sound like a chicken and egg issue. Who produced the abominable creeds in the first place? It was abominable professors. Who propagates the abominable creeds, why it's the corrupt professors. I don't know why you're trying to soften what it says. The professors of these abominable creeds reap many benefits and they continue to profess them because of the benefits. They are corrupt and their hearts are far from the Lord.

I agree. Most Protestants and Catholics are struggling to get as close to God as they can. This passage wasn't about the members of those churches but it was about those who profess these creeds. The problem is most of those members follow who ever appeals to them and tells them what they want to hear.

Since there are too many anonymous commenters on this post to know how many there actually area, I'm going to respond in the order of the comments:

Patty and Anon2, I'm glad the post helped you - and that you got the message I was trying to convey.

Anon1, I never claimed there was anything new in the post - but that doesn't mean it's not important to talk about it in terms of what it actually says. Many people don't do that, so lots of people end up misunderstanding it, which is why I wrote the post.

Anon3, I agree - but I didn't think it mattered for the point I was making. Either way, it is attributed to Jesus/Jehovah.

Anon4, the people who are referenced in the actual passage are those who professed in Joseph's time (and still today) the creeds that were conceived and written by people prior to that time - so, in the context of the overall experience, the creeds came before and tainted the professors.

Also, and this is very important to me, I'm not trying to soften anything. I'm trying to be as precise and accurate as possible. I said more than once in the post that what was said is hard (impossible, really) for people who believe the Protestant creeds to accept. It's important, however, not to extrapolate things into the passage that aren't there - and too many members of the LDS Church do that, in my experience.

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